Engine control tilt switch for motorcycles
First Claim
1. For use on a motor vehicle having front and rear wheels,a level detector that is responsive to the elevation of the front wheel of the motor vehicle off the ground;
- and an electrical engine control circuit within which said level detector is connected to control the operation of the engine of the motor vehicle, said level detector having an open circuit condition by which to disable said electrical engine control circuit when each of the front and rear wheels of the motor vehicle is in contact with the ground, and said level detector having a closed circuit condition by which to complete said electrical engine control circuit when the front wheel of the motor vehicle is lifted above the ground during an acceleration for causing the engine speed of the motor vehicle to slow and the acceleration of the motor vehicle to be correspondingly reduced, whereby the front wheel of the motor vehicle will return to the ground to prevent the motor vehicle from flipping over.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tilt switch to be carried by a motorcycle and connected in an engine control circuit to control the rotational speed of the motorcycle engine in response to the front end of the motorcycle lifting off the ground during rapid acceleration events (e.g. a “wheelie”) to prevent the motorcycle from flipping over and causing injury or death to the operator and/or his passenger. Also connected in the engine control circuit is an on/off override switch that is located at the front of the motorcycle so as to be in easy reach of the operator. When the front wheel of the motorcycle is elevated with the override switch moved to the on position, the tilt switch will assume a closed switch condition to complete the engine control circuit. The engine control circuit then causes the engine speed of the motorcycle to slow such that the acceleration of the motorcycle will be correspondingly reduced, whereby the front wheel will automatically return to the ground to prevent the motorcycle from flipping over. With the override switch in the off position, the engine control circuit will be disabled regardless of the level of the motorcycle and the switch condition of the tilt switch carried thereby.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. For use on a motor vehicle having front and rear wheels,
a level detector that is responsive to the elevation of the front wheel of the motor vehicle off the ground; - and
an electrical engine control circuit within which said level detector is connected to control the operation of the engine of the motor vehicle, said level detector having an open circuit condition by which to disable said electrical engine control circuit when each of the front and rear wheels of the motor vehicle is in contact with the ground, and said level detector having a closed circuit condition by which to complete said electrical engine control circuit when the front wheel of the motor vehicle is lifted above the ground during an acceleration for causing the engine speed of the motor vehicle to slow and the acceleration of the motor vehicle to be correspondingly reduced, whereby the front wheel of the motor vehicle will return to the ground to prevent the motor vehicle from flipping over. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. In combination:
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a motorcycle having front and rear wheels, and a tilt switch connected in an electrical engine control circuit to control the speed of the engine of the motorcycle, said tilt switch carried by the motorcycle so as to have an open switch condition by which to disable said engine control circuit when each of the front and rear wheels of the motorcycle is in contact with the ground and a closed switch condition by which to complete said engine control circuit when the front wheel of the motorcycle is elevated above the ground during acceleration for causing the engine speed of the motorcycle to slow and the acceleration of the motorcycle to be correspondingly reduced, whereby the front wheel will return to the ground to prevent the motorcycle from flipping over. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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Specification